ANNAPOLIS, Md. - In a day where the Navy water polo team was set on redeeming itself after an 0-2 showing versus Bucknell and Johns Hopkins last week, a hard-fought and crisp 9-7 win over the Bison set the tone before an improbable come-from-behind victory in overtime versus the Blue Jays capped off the Mids' 2-0 day at Scott Natatorium.

Navy's senior class showed its grit, guile and leadership during Saturday's doubleheader as Carl Dowzicky (Sr., Collegeville, Pa.) and Robert Sutherland (Sr., Denton, Texas) led the way offensively, while Beau Bayless (Sr., Carmel, Calif.) was a standout in goal for the Mids. Dowzicky had a team-high eight points on six goals and two assists, one more than Sutherland's seven points on five goals and two assists. After making 14 saves in game one versus Bucknell, Bayless came back with 10 more stops in game two. Steven Emde (Sr., Ballwin, Mo.) made it a quartet of senior standouts with the game-winning goal in overtime for the Mids versus Johns Hopkins.

"These were two very different games today, but the one common factor was the grittiness that this team showed," remarked Navy head coach Mladen Stanicic. "Versus Bucknell, we played a smart and rather error-free game so that helped us out immensely. In game two against Johns Hopkins we made a lot more errors and that held us back before an absolutely miraculous finish. The fight we showed to come back multiple times and finally earn a tie right before the end of regulation was amazing. To hold the lead for less than a minute in a game that went to overtime and come away with a league win is such a great feeling."

Navy 9 - Bucknell 7

In a slower, more methodical game, the contest was scoreless over the first three-plus minutes of play until Navy took a short-lived 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by Dowzicky at 4:53. Two goals by the Bison in quick succession gave the visitors a 2-1 lead by the 2:53 mark. After another Bucknell ejection, the Mids took advantage with their second man-up goal with 28 seconds left in the first quarter. Carpenter Warren (Sr., Baltimore, Md.) found the back of the net after taking a pass on the perimeter from Dowzicky.

With the score tied 2-2 after one period, the Bison re-took the lead 52 seconds into the second quarter. Less than two minutes later, some physical play towards Sutherland in front of the goal resulted in a 5-meter penalty shot for the Mids that Matt Skowronski (So., Oak Hill, Va.) stepped up and converted to tie the game at 3-3. A David Huber (Jr., Fort Washington, Pa.) goal at 3:54 closed the scoring in the first half and gave Navy a 4-3 lead at halftime.

Coming out of the break, the Bison used some fast-hitting offense to tie the game for the fourth time at 4-4, 57 seconds into the third quarter. Back-to-back goals by the Mids gave the hosts a lead that they would not relinquish over the final 13:55 of play. A pass in transition from Taylor Bernhardt (Fr., Annapolis, Md.) to a streaking Dowzicky put Navy up 5-4 before Jack Robinson (So., Greenwich, Conn.) ripped a left-handed shot from long range at 4:50 to make it 6-4. After Bucknell tightened it to within one at 4:31, a breakaway goal by Warren with 8.5 seconds left in the period gave Navy a two-goal lead going into the final period of play.

The cat-and-mouse game continued over the last eight minutes as Bucknell would come within one only to have Navy respond with a score of its own. With the score 7-6, Sutherland scored his only goal of the game at 5:06 with a blistering shot that found its way between the arms of the Bison goalkeeper, Charlie Niehaus. Jared Castillo (So., League City, Texas) salted away the victory for the Mids as he found the back of the net at 1:46 to put Navy up by its final margin of 9-7.

For the game, Bayless recorded 14 saves on 21 Bucknell shots on goal.

Navy 12 - Johns Hopkins 11 (OT)

The Mids' redemption tour continued in game two, as they looked to avenge an 11-9 defeat last Wednesday in Baltimore to the Blue Jays. The outcome of that task looked bleak early on as the visitors jumped out to a commanding 4-0 lead by the 3:29 mark of the first quarter. With under a minute to go, Sutherland intercepted a pass and led a 2-on-1 transitional break before passing off to Warren, who juked the Johns Hopkins' goalie and lobbed a shot high and over the keeper's head for the Mids' first goal at 0:21.

After five goals were scored in the first period, the second quarter saw just three points go up on the scoreboard, two for Navy and one for Johns Hopkins. Sutherland and Dowzicky led the Mids' effort in the quarter that saw their deficit go from three at 4-1 to two at 5-3 by halftime. Sutherland netted his goal at 3:10 after taking a Huber pass inside the 5-meter and flipping a shot over the keeper's head, while Dowzicky tallied a power play marker at 0:36 with a hard shot from the outside after Skowronski found him on a pass along the top of the offensive arc.

With the game 5-3, the game opened up offensively in the third quarter with eight goals, five for Navy and three for Johns Hopkins. After the Blue Jays scored on their first possession to go up 6-3, three straight Midshipmen goals in a span of 52 seconds from 6:36 to 5:44 gave the hosts their first tie of the game. Dowzicky notched two of the goals, while Bernhardt scored at 6:08. The momentum pendulum swung quickly back to Johns Hopkins with consecutive goals at 5:08 and 4:01. Over the final 91 seconds of the quarter Navy fought back to re-tie the game with a pair of scores; a power play conversion for Dowzicky at 1:33 and a Sutherland tally at 0:36.

In the fourth quarter, the Blue Jays showed that they were unfazed by the 8-8 score as they came out in the first 3:08 and recorded two goals. After Sutherland scored an unassisted goal at 2:58, Johns Hopkins looked to close out a 9-8 victory before a wild series of plays with under six seconds unfolded. After Castillo was called for a misconduct expulsion, Johns Hopkins' Matt Fraser responded with a flagrant misconduct foul for contact with Castillo as the sophomore attempted to swim away. The result of the two expulsion fouls was offsetting 5-meter penalty shots. The Blue Jays were the first team to shoot and could've clinched the victory with a make, but Bayless deked the shooter into missing the goal and rocketing a shot off the side post. With the pressure of a potential tie on his shoulders, Skowronski calmly swam to the 5-meter mark and converted the free-position shot.

32 minutes of regulation action wouldn't be enough to decide a winner as the teams moved onto six minutes of overtime play. In the first three-minute period, Johns Hopkins once again took the lead before seeing Navy fight back and even the score at 11-11. The Mids' flair for dramatics continued as Sutherland netted the game-tying goal on a long-range shot with 1.8 seconds left on the clock. With just three minutes left in overtime before sudden victory would come into play, Navy's defense buckled down and held Johns Hopkins scoreless for the session. With 39.9 ticks left in overtime, Bernhardt drove the right side of the pool before finding Emde on the back side for a quick catch and shoot. This goal gave the Mids their first lead after trailing or being tied for 37:20 of a 38-minute game. After a caused turnover on the Blue Jays' last possession of the game and standing-room only crowd at Scott Natatorium erupted with excitement as the Mids had come back to win 12-11.

Bayless made 10 saves in Navy's victory to give him back-to-back double-digit efforts on the day. His success did not go without recognition by his coach as Stanicic gave him kudos post game. "Beau was very good all day for us," said Stanicic. "He only had one lapse in game one and we coached him up right there at that moment and he flipped the page and immediately improved. Versus Johns Hopkins, he kept us in the game with numerous strong saves. Though he didn't get a hand on the penalty shot with five seconds to go, I'm confident he influenced the shooter or his shot."

Navy will have a quick turnaround before the Mids are back in the Scott Natatorium pool on Sunday morning for an 11 a.m. matchup with George Washington in another CWPA league contest.